


One Thing At A Time

by Sopranos_only_gang



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, Marijuana Use, but imagine whoever you want ig, it's in honor of 420, it's modern au kids, jack isn't a stoner but smokes with race on occasion, race is very much a stoner even though he's not even here, this is written for 92sies cast :0
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 03:37:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18541486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sopranos_only_gang/pseuds/Sopranos_only_gang
Summary: David decides to try pot for the first time, Jack supervises.





	One Thing At A Time

David sat against the tree in the park across the street from his building, tapping his fingers together anxiously. He was supposed to be studying with his AP Biology partner. He was supposed to be in the warm comforts of the home of a classmate he barely knew. Instead, he was hidden behind a hill and a tree and a stone-brick wall, waiting for Jack to return to the spot with supplies for their most interesting venture yet.

The crunching of leaves and twigs on the ground behind David signaled him to turn around and meet Jack’s eyes, which were glinting with excitement. The nervousness in his chest dissipated, replaced with butterflies which made it hard for him not to grin. Jack pulled his bag off of his shoulders and tossed it on the ground so it leaned against one of the many roots circling the tree. He sank down next to David and started pulling the materials from the canvas.

“Racer gave me way too much.” Jack said with a laugh, popping the child-proof cap off of a medicine bottle. 

David scrunched up his nose, the smell hitting him immediately. “It's much stronger than I’d expected,” he inhaled deeply, “you’re sure it'll wear off by the time we get to my apartment?”

Jack nodded and pulled a one-hitter out of his pocket. “We got an hour and a half to kill, Dave. We’re good.”

David watched Jack fiddle with grinding the one-hitter down into the medicine bottle, filling it up with the contents. The nervous feeling started creeping back into his stomach and he began fidgeting with his hands again to calm himself down. Jack took notice of this pretty quickly and put an arm around David’s shoulders.

“Y’okay? We don't hafta do this. I'm not trying to force you, you don't gotta be cool for me, I promise.” 

David shook his head. “No. No, this is something I've wanted to try for a long time now.. I just need a minute.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Long as you're sure.”

David watched intently as Jack lit the end of the glass piece and took a slow drag in. He exhales almost immediately and a cloud of smoke forms from his slightly-parted lips. David stares in wonder, feeling the heat of a blush starting to stain his cheeks.

“Jack.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m ready.”

Jack handed the piece to David. David put it to his lips where Jack started flicking the lighter at the other end, and David took a deep inhale when he felt the burn of smoke start to seep out. He started wheezing as soon as his lips disconnected from the glass. Jack put his hand on his David’s arm and patted a few times.

“Sorry, I uh… Forgot to tell you, you gotta breathe twice.”

“What?” David asked weakly, all he could muster between full-body coughing.

“You gotta hit and then when you're done you gotta breathe in more. Like I'll… Watch.” Jack put the one-hitter to his lips again and took a long drag, disconnecting and making a point to suck in a full breath before exhaling it all together. 

David let out a few more coughs and nodded. Jack took one more hit before handing the piece back to David. He mimicked Jack’s actions carefully and started to take a second breath as soon as he felt the burning in the back of his throat. They sat like that for a few minutes, passing the glass between each other. After David counted about ten hits under his own belt, he leaned back against the tree. 

Jack offered the piece to David once more and David put up his hand. “I think I'm starting to feel it.”

Jack nodded and tapped the glass to let the ashes of bud fall onto the ground. “I'm gonna put on music.” David took an airpod from Jack’s palm and popped it in, letting the Troye Sivan playlist on low wash over him as ambient noise. The sound started to move slower, and soon everything was coming at him in waves.

David felt himself slowly going limp, adjusting himself to be comfortable against the rough bark of the tree. His legs let out the occasional jolt, and it wasn't until he felt Jack’s leg do the same that he realized he was leaning almost entirely on him.

David moved back, slow and clumsy. “Sorry, I'll-”

“You're warm.” Jack said, pulling David back by his waist. “It's cold as shit.”

David didn't protest, instead letting the slowed feeling of Jack’s hands linger even after his arms were back where they were before. He blinked a few times, the area around them feeling so much more in focus than twenty minutes ago. Or was it a half hour?

David reached for his bag, fidgeting with the zipper for a second, and pulling his phone free. It had only been seven minutes.

“Time is moving… Really slow.” David mumbled. If Jack wasn't laying so close, he probably wouldn't have picked it up.

“It does that.”

David opened his screen, and blinked a few times to adjust to the way the buttons were protruding from the screen. This was new.

“The buttons.”

“They do that too.”

“How do you text me while you're like this?”

Jack shrugged. “Got used to it. ‘N I focus I can do it.”

David tried not to dwell on how low and raspy Jack’s voice was, or how every word was almost spoken directly into his neck. He couldn't focus on more than one thing at a time and god, it was infuriating, but he probably hadn't been this relaxed in years. He gave up trying to use the device and set it back into his bag.

“Everything is zoomed in on us. Like… We can…. I can only hear us. And the background noise isn't there.”

“Dave.”

“Hm?”

“You don't gotta tell me. I already know.”

David nodded, but his eyebrows were furrowed. He was obviously uncomfortable with not being able to verbalize his thoughts and he searched Jack’s face for some kind of understanding. He found it, where Jack saw exactly how David needed to be at all times. To be able to describe his surroundings. Jack moved his hand lazily to prompt David to continue, bumping into David’s stomach lightly. 

The touch was feather-light, and David felt like he was floating.

“If I move my hand,” David waved his hand around experimentally in front of Jack’s face, “only my hand moves. If you're blinking I can't see it. And.. And if I try to listen to you and the music at the same time it doesn't work. And.. And… And I forgot what else I had to say.”

Jack grabbed David’s wrist and moved it away from his face with an amused expression on his face. “Just drop it Dave, you're not gonna remember anything longer than a minute.”

“This will continue to bother me.”

“I’m sure it will.”

“This is gonna make me anxious.”

“Christ, here I thought weed was a depressant.” Jack rolled his eyes. “You were saying something about moving your hand, then the… I forgot too.”

David curled into himself slightly and his eyes darted back and forth. “Everything looks like a pop-up book.” His voice carried a new edge of anxiousness to it, and he winced internally at how dumb he sounded.

“Dave, if this is too much I don't mind going in early. We can get you somethin’ to eat.”

“No, I'm fine. I'm fine. I need to calm down.”

“Hey.” Jack looked him in the eye, pulling back from their position slightly to give him a serious look. “I got you. Really. You're safe. You had a lot, this is your first time. Whatever you gotta say, whatever you gotta do. As long as it makes you feel good. You're in your head right now. Make yourself at home.”

David smiled at that, and he couldn't tell whether Jack’s words were nearly as profound to a sober person as they sounded at the moment. He dropped the subject and let his mind wander. He once again found himself focusing on how tightly Jack was pressed into him and how his soft breathing was raising hairs on his neck.

One thing David couldn't shake was the awareness of it all. He was completely mentally sound, despite terrible perception and execution of function. His mind was stumbling to remember, but his thoughts weren't clouded. His words weren't slurred. It was a much more comfortable state than being drunk, not to mention he did also very much enjoy the calmness that came with the stillness. He and Jack were the only two people in the world, everything else going quiet and out of focus.

Naturally there was no way he could say all of this, so he opted to store the feeling in the back of his mind to reflect on later.

They sat in silence for what felt like forever, the music drowned out and faded, and David sank a bit at the lack of contact when Jack’s hand snaked back from around his waist to retrieve a cellphone. 

“We only been out here twenty minutes.” Jack said quietly.

“It really does feel like a lot longer.”

Jack hummed lowly in agreement and David felt him move back to his original position. 

“It's different than I expected. The feeling, I mean..” David broke their silence once again. “I'm not slurring my words.”

“It's different than bein’ drunk, Dave.” Jack gave a small shrug. “Better I think. But you gotta remember, we had a lot.”

“You had more than I did.”

“Yeah?”

“I stopped at ten. You also had a few doubles.”

Jack furrowed his eyebrows and looked up, suddenly concentrated on crunching the numbers. “Like fifteen, sixteen.”

David snorted. “Jesus, we’re gonna die.”

“Don’t doubt it.” Jack cracked a smile too. He looked down and David took the movement as an excuse to stare at his face, count every little detail and freckle. He couldn't focus long enough on the number and soon lost count. He also didn't have the reaction time to turn his head when Jack looked back up and peered into his eyes. Instead of looking away, David studied Jack’s irises.

Hazel. Brown at first glance, but from this close David could see how the color shifted to gold and a dull green tone toward the pupil. From this close he could see flecks of dark occasionally dotting the area. From this close he could see the shades of purple under his eyes marking sleep deprivation, scarlet in the whites from his heightened state, long eyelashes which stood out against the roughness of his features…

The shade of red which now dusted his cheeks because he really hadn't realized just how _close_ they were seated.

David slowly moved his face away from Jack's, trying to think of a viable excuse. “Your eyes are red.” He offered quietly.

“That happens.” Jack stared intensely back, now focused on examining David’s eyes. “Yours ain't.”

“Hm.” David let's his eyes linger a moment longer, then leans farther into Jack so he's almost entirely curled into his side. David fully expects Jack to lean into the touch, considering how affectionate he'd been all night.

What he wasn't expecting however was the hand absentmindedly moving to rake over his scalp through his hair. David’s eyes flutter shut, only barely able to stay conscious with the combination of the pot and the new sensation. He hums softly, and the only confirmation that Jack can hear it is the other hand which moved to follow the same patterns. David sighed and _fuck_ , he’s glad that this is the only thing he can focus on in the moment. 

David tensed slightly when one of the hands moved down from his scalp to brush over his chin and rests to cup the side of his face. Jack’s thumb brushed over David’s cheek a few times, and David felt his face flush. Even with their usual affection, even with tonight, the move was surprisingly tender. David sat up once again to look at Jack’s face.

The tint which stained Jack’s face paralleled what he could only assume to look like the blush on his own, and the serenity in his expression gave David the bravery to make his next move.

To lace their fingers together in the space between them.

Jack gripped David’s hand tightly almost as soon as it happened, and he pulled David closer to him. David feels time move impossibly slower; Jack’s eyes on his lips, David leaning forward, and finally the soft press of their mouths together.

It's all too quick, David pulled away almost as soon as he processed the feeling. He traced his index and middle fingers against his lips in disbelief. His eyes were blown wide, and even with his slowed reactions and thought process he knew there was no way to blame what he had just done on the weed. He stumbled backward, desperate to summon up whatever shreds of coordination he had left in him to escape what he'd just done. Jack’s eyes followed every little movement, clearly still in shock himself. David finally worked up the nerve to study Jack’s face for a reaction; disgust, fear, amusement, pity, _something_. 

Jack was still dazed, but a small smile was finding a way to his lips. It completely caught David off guard, so much so that he hadn't entirely felt it when Jack lightly tugged him by the sleeve to pull him back to where they were sitting.

Jack tilted his head slightly, laughing to himself. “Shit Davey, you have no idea how long I wanted to do that.”

The words didn’t completely reach David’s brain at first. He furrowed his eyebrows and cast his gaze downward. “What?”

“I wanna say freshman year, October?” Jack was smiling much wider now.

“Wait, you… What?” David’s mouth was slightly parted in surprise.

“Can we try that again?”

David nodded hard, this time leaning in only slightly before Jack closed the distance between them enthusiastically. Jack’s hands fisted in David’s collar, tugging it slightly awkwardly from under the sweater vest on top, and David smiled into Jack’s lips. Under normal circumstances, David had a feeling that Jack would be more than enthusiastic to deepen the kiss, bring him closer and pull the buttons of his shirt undone and trail kisses down his neck.

But of course, with the help of their lapse in attention span and coordination they would occasionally have to stop to let out a fit of giggles or make a soft comment about how everyone was _definitely_ staring at them. It goes without saying that they barely managed to stay together longer than a few seconds at a time.

David promised himself that he wouldn't have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy 4/20, I came up with this idea while being high with my best friend.  
> Thank you for reading, please leave a comment if you enjoyed.. I'm starving.


End file.
